User blog:Sandingomm the Wildcat/Recurring Themes in Wolves of the Beyond and Horses of the Dawn
After reading the three books in Horses of the Dawn, another series by Kathryn Lasky, I have noticed several parallels between that series and Wolves of the Beyond. Faolan the wolf and Estrella the mustang have much in common with each other. I will describe the recurring themes in these stories. So obviously there will be spoilers for these books if you have not read them yet. 1. The protagonist leads a band of close friends on a path to an unfamiliar destination. In the last book, Faolan leads the earthquake survivors across the ice bridge to the Distant Blue. Estrella the filly is the main character in Horses of the Dawn. She is one of several horses who swims to shore from a ship, who eventually become the first herd of Spanish Mustangs. Estrella becomes the leader of these horses and they journey through the Rocky Mountains to a new home to live. 2. Spirituality and spirits play a major role and help guide the protagonist. Faolan and his mate Edme are both gyre souls. Edme was formerly Stormfast, and Faolan is the reincarnation of the original Fengo. Faolan uses the memory of his gyre souls to help guide him and his friends to the Distant Blue. One of these gyre souls is a grizzly bear named Eo. Estrella is guided by the ancient spirit of a "little horse", which we know to be the extinct dawn horse, or Eohippus. There is also a spirit of a blind fawn in the first book. Tijo's grandmother's spirit temporarily resides in different animals, known as spirit lodges, after she dies. 3. Both stories have a female character who flees an abusive mate and joins up with the main character's group. WotB has Calia, who becomes a Skaars dancer and eventually Heep's mate as an outclanner. She runs away from him and joins Faolan's traveling pack. Additionally, many other she-wolves in the series escape a cruel or uncaring partner, or the MacHeaths, and join the MacNamara clan. In HotD, a mare named Bella is abandoned by the stallion Pego because her foal was stillborn, and is accepted into Estrella's herd. 4. Both protagonists kill a cougar and acknowledge his nobility and grace as he lies dying. Faolan stalks and pursues a cougar out of revenge for the one that killed Thunderheart's cub. But as he kills the cougar, he only thinks about the animal's grace and speed and performs lochinvyrr to him. Similarly, Estrella's herd is pursued by two cougars and kills one of them in self-defense. Estrella acknowledges that the dying cougar is noble and brave and sacrificed himself to save his mate. (On a side note, some owls in the second Guardians book basically attack and kill a bobcat on sight, a scene that I disliked. I wish Lasky would give her feline characters more of a role besides being briefly introduced and then killed off.) 5. Both stories have a female grizzly bear whose hope is restored when the river washes up another animal. We all are familiar with the scene at the beginning of Lone Wolf where the river washes up Faolan to Thunderheart. Towards the end of the final book in Horses of the Dawn there is a scene with a very strong parallel. A female grizzly bear is desperate for food, and is sure that her cubs will die. The river washes up an old and dying mare, Angela, who in her death sustains the life of the bear and her cubs. I thought this scene was an interesting way to connect the two stories, since one grizzly bear scene happens at the beginning and the other at the end. 6. Both stories feature a secondary antagonist who has a change of heart, and eventually dies in another character's place. Banja used to be bitter and cruel to Edme, but later in the series she undergoes a redemptive arc and becomes a caring mother. She runs to help Calia who is pursued by Heep, and Heep kills her instead of Calia. Pego the stallion was vain and deceitful for most of the book, but after he is humbled he has a similar change of heart. He sacrifices himself to save Estrella and Tijo. While Banja was acting out of bitterness to Edme and Pego was mainly just arrogant towards all the other horses, Pego does essentially fill the same role in the horse series that Banja did in the wolf books. 7. Both series start around the time of the protagonist's birth, and end shortly after the friends reach their destination in a new land. WotB begins shortly before Faolan's birth, and ends when they reach the Distant Blue and meet the horse. HotD starts on the ship just before Estrella's mother Perlina gives birth to her, and the story concludes when she leads her herd to their new home. Category:Blog posts